Riverdale High School (Quebec)

Riverdale High School
Address
5060 Sources Blvd. Pierrefonds , Quebec , H8Y 3E4 Canada
Coordinates	45.5102°N 73.8249°W / 45.5102; -73.8249
Information
School type	High school
Founded	1964; 60 years ago (1964)
Closed	2019; 5 years ago (2019)
School board	formerly Lester B. Pearson School Board, and in the now defunct Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal)
Principal	Mathieu Canavan (2018–2019)
Grades	Secondary I-V
Enrollment	441[1] (2018-2019)
Language	English
Colour(s)	Green and Black
Mascot	Spartan
Team name	Spartans
Website	riverdale.lbpsb.qc.ca

Riverdale High School (often abbreviated as RHS) was an English language secondary school, in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The school was part of the Lester B. Pearson School Board and was designated a "community school".

History

Riverdale had many athletic teams, including basketball, rugby, soccer, volleyball, track and field, and swim teams. The school also had a wide variety of community-based clubs and organizations.

In 1971, the Riverdale Band won the International Band competition held in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.[2]

In 1972, an expansion of the original building took place.[3]

The logo visible to the right and the slogan "Reach Higher and Succeed" were adopted during the 1988-1989 school year after they were chosen in a schoolwide contest. Both were submitted by students at the time. The school's official colours were blue (a dark navy blue) and Grey, with the school paper having the matching name "Blue & Grey," but they were changed to match the uniforms adopted in 1993, whose colours were also selected by the student body.[4] Before that the school had no uniform but only a dress code with rules such as "no jeans" and "no clothes with holes."

A dwindling student populace made Riverdale apportion out half of its first floor to a French-language elementary school in 1988 to share costs, leaving the other two floors to the high school, along with the other half of the first floor, which included the cafeteria, shop classes, and music department. Later in 2007, the school got the full first floor back.

In 2011, the main hallway, which was used for the junior grades was closed off for adult education because of its low student population, but the cafeteria was still very much part of the school, as were the drama department, music department and shop classes, situated on the first floor.

In 2017, the second-floor hallway, which had previously run a full rectangular loop, was closed off roughly a fourth of the way through to make more space to be used for adult education which shared the building.

In 2019, the school was forced to close and merge with the nearby Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School by the Minister of Education at the time, Jean-François Roberge. The building transferred over to the French-speaking Marguerite-Bourgeoys school board which had been struggling with overcrowding issues.[5]

The building now houses the De L'Altitude high school.[6][7]

Notable alumni

• Ian Beausoleil-Morrison, nee Morrison; professional engineer and academic, Head of the Sustainable Building and Energy Systems group, Faculty of Engineering and Design at Carleton University[8]^[citation needed]
• Michael Calce, denial-of-service attack hacker known as Mafiaboy[9]
• Khem Birch, Professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors (NBA)
• David Boys, World (1997) and Canadian (2003) Scrabble champion
• Craig Button (1980), former NHL executive, current hockey broadcast analyst
• Bill Coon (1976), jazz guitarist, composer
• Glen MacPherson (1975), cinematographer
• Harley Morenstein, Host and creator of YouTube show Epic Meal Time and host of Epic Chef
• Eric Prosh (1975), Director of Minerals and Petroleum Resources, Nunavut
• Harry Standjofski, actor, theater director, playwright.
• Jack W. Szostak (1968), cell biologist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009[10][11][12]
• André White (1976), musician, composer, recording engineer, and educator
• Alissa White-Gluz, former lead singer of Canadian Metalcore Band The Agonist and current lead singer of Swedish Melodic Death Metal Band Arch Enemy
• Charlene Wong, Olympic figure skater[13]

References

1. Wilton, Katherione (29 January 2019). "Riverdale chooses 'optimistic approach' in response to closing of school". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
2. "Riverdale Band Concert June 14". The North Shore News. 8 June 1972. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
3. "Tenders called for Riverdale's Phase Two extension". The North Shore News. 23 July 1970.
4. Riverdale High School Uniform Regulations
5. "Pierrefonds's Riverdale High forced to close, building to be handed over to French board | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
6. "École de l'Altitude". www.csmb.qc.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
7. "de l'Altitude". École secondaire de l'Altitude (in French). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
8. "Ian Beausoleil-Morrison, Canada Research Professor". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
9. MacIntosh, Jeane (21 April 2000). "Hack-teen probe ends in father's arrest, too". New York Post.
10. "Riverdale High School Yearbook". 1968. p. 10.
11. "Jack W. Szostak - Biographical". The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009. Nobel Media. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
12. "The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Press Release". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
13. "Charlene Wong moves up to international class". The North Shore News. 15 May 1980. Retrieved 4 February 2012.